Lower Chapel, Eton College

Lower Chapel, Eton College

Built between 1889 and 1891 by Sir Arthur Blomfield, the Lower Chapel at Eton College is a major late Victorian educational building constructed as part of the college's expansion at the end of the 19th century. It stands on the south side of Keate's Lane, fronting directly on to the street to the north and separated to the south by a small open space from Queen's Schools, with which it forms a fine architectural group.

The chapel is constructed of finely dressed, coursed Bath stone ashlar. It comprises a nave and sanctuary united in a single space of six bays, with a lower aisle to the south, a southwestern stair turret, and a southeastern internal vestibule. The design is imposing and unified, executed in the Perpendicular Gothic style.

The exterior is characterized by a clear distinction between the five bays of the nave and the single bay of the sanctuary, expressed through differing tracery forms in the clerestory. The nave windows are of three broad lights with conventional 15th-century tracery under pointed hoods, while the eastern bay contains a pair of two-light windows with Perpendicular tracery beneath more ornate ogee-headed hoods. The south aisle features paired two-light windows in four of the five bays, with a two-light window and doorway in the western bay. Buttresses with offsets delineate the bays, topped by shafts that rise through the parapets to form pinnacles. The nave and sanctuary parapets are crenellated, while the aisle parapet is plain. A large Perpendicular five-light window dominates the east end. The west elevation displays a high-set window and, at ground level, a series of one-light openings that light the vestibule space beneath the organ and provide access to the chapel. The octagonal stair turret at the southwest corner rises in three stages with an openwork top featuring crenellations. Four entrances provide access to all corners of the building.

The interior is a tall, spacious rectangle dominated by large windows. The nave is separated from the aisle by low four-centred arches and piers with continuous mouldings. Transverse arches between the bays in the aisle form part of the buttressing system. The principal roof over the nave and sanctuary employs hammerbeam construction, with intermediate principal rafters bearing angels at wall-plate level holding shields depicting instruments of the Passion. The roof rises in three tiers, the middle tier containing wind-braces. The aisle has a flat, boarded ceiling divided by moulded ribs into square panels.

The interior furnishings and fixtures result largely from a comprehensive refurbishment scheme undertaken around 1924 by architect Walter Tapper. College-wise seating dominates the space, with five tiers of benches with shaped ends in the nave and four tiers with poppy-heads in the aisles, supplemented by return stalls at the west end of the nave. The west end is dominated by a large organ featuring four towers of pipes separated by three flats. Tapper's design is based on a Father Smith organ case of approximately 1700 that formerly stood in the main college chapel and is now in the Dominican church at Rugeley, Staffordshire. The organ sits on a gallery with an ornately treated Gothic screen facing the chapel, executed by L A Turner. Tapper also designed the stone reredos, richly traceried in the Perpendicular style and depicting the Crucifixion in its main panel. In marked contrast to this Gothic work, the panelling around the arches to the aisle and on the north wall is in Renaissance style, designed by Tapper and Reynolds. The large rectangular panels on the north side are filled with tapestries designed by Lady Chilston and woven by Morris and Company around 1920. The sanctuary contains an arched sedilia recess with space for three seats and ornate cusping in its head. An extensive collection of stained glass windows by C E Kempe enriches the chapel, with the east window depicting the Crucifixion and dating to 1894 as the earliest example. Further Kempe windows were added progressively until 1910.

The chapel adjoins the Queen's Schools and Museum, also designed by Blomfield, which are executed in red brick in the Tudor style.

Arthur William Blomfield (1829–1899) was one of the most active and successful church architects of the Gothic Revival. The fourth son of Bishop Charles J Blomfield of London (bishop 1828–1856), he was articled to P C Hardwick and began independent practice in London in 1856. His early work is characterised by strong muscular qualities and the use of structural polychrome often influenced by continental models. Later in his career, as exemplified by the Eton Lower Chapel, his work became more restrained. He served as diocesan architect to Winchester and as architect to the Bank of England from 1883. Blomfield was knighted in 1889 and awarded the RIBA's Royal Gold Medal in 1891.

Walter Tapper (1861–1935) was a distinguished early 20th-century church architect who served as chief assistant to the great Victorian church architects Bodley and Garner. He established independent practice in 1893, became consulting architect to York Minster from 1907, and was appointed surveyor to Westminster Abbey from 1928. He was knighted in the year of his death and is buried at Westminster.